Reasons why Dance is not being done in Chicago

[-TJ-]

<font color=3333ff>Let's see.. the new Reggeton station is eating at B96. Power and B96 are declining and WKSC is almost amazingly dead even with B96 in rank, but with still different playlists. WGCI is untouchable.

So...it would only make sense for one station to flip or lean to Dance. I'd love to see the ratings and billing on a city grade signal!

So I got to thinking...... I don't think that B96 or Kiss would have the same desire (or for that matter knowledge) that the staff at Energy did. And that's why I believe they are not doing it. It's unknown to them.

Kiss wont flip because it's the CC/SFX outlet. It's a perfect chance for B96 to go back to the REAL "Killer Bee" of 1990, 1991, 1992 etc......

If I remember right, Snap "Rhythm of a Dancer" was recorded at the WBBM studios? If I remember right, Bad Boys Blue "I Totally Miss You" was tested EXCLUSIVELY on B96 six months before it's release to the USA?

We all know there is a demo for the format. If the energy is put into it, it can bill extremely well in THIS city. At this point with the revenue that is being split with the Urbans/Rhythimics, something has to give.

I'd love to see this:

WGCI = Urban 25-54
WPWX = Urban 18-34
WVAZ = Urban AC
WSRB = The Groove
WKSC = CHR/Mainstream
WBBM = CHR/Dance

Q101 had (not sure if they still are) always toyed with "Sonic Boom" on the weekends. B96 seems to do weekend dance mixes.

But no one wants to make it a full-fledged kingpin biller? Doesn't really make sense to me. It's radio, not brain surgery. The money is there? Why not run with it? It's $$$ waiting to be soaked up.
</font>

 

[ZelenRecords]

> Let's see.. the new Reggeton station is eating at B96.
> Power and B96 are declining and WKSC is almost amazingly
> dead even with B96 in rank, but with still different
> playlists. WGCI is untouchable.
>
> So...it would only make sense for one station to flip or
> lean to Dance. I'd love to see the ratings and billing on a
> city grade signal!
>
> So I got to thinking...... I don't think that B96 or Kiss
> would have the same desire (or for that matter knowledge)
> that the staff at Energy did. And that's why I believe they
> are not doing it. It's unknown to them.
>
> Kiss wont flip because it's the CC/SFX outlet. It's a
> perfect chance for B96 to go back to the REAL "Killer Bee"
> of 1990, 1991, 1992 etc......
>
> If I remember right, Snap "Rhythm of a Dancer" was recorded
> at the WBBM studios? If I remember right, Bad Boys Blue "I
> Totally Miss You" was tested EXCLUSIVELY on B96 six months
> before it's release to the USA?
>
> We all know there is a demo for the format. If the energy
> is put into it, it can bill extremely well in THIS city. At
> this point with the revenue that is being split with the
> Urbans/Rhythimics, something has to give.
>
> I'd love to see this:
>
> WGCI = Urban 25-54
> WPWX = Urban 18-34
> WVAZ = Urban AC
> WSRB = The Groove
> WKSC = CHR/Mainstream
> WBBM = CHR/Dance
>
> Q101 had (not sure if they still are) always toyed with
> "Sonic Boom" on the weekends. B96 seems to do weekend dance
> mixes.
>
> But no one wants to make it a full-fledged kingpin biller?
> Doesn't really make sense to me. It's radio, not brain
> surgery. The money is there? Why not run with it? It's
> $$$ waiting to be soaked up.
>


I kind of agree. I think to grab some more listeners, B96 should add some dance to their playlist. Not completly, but some dance tracks would really help the station. They have to beat Kiss & La kelle some how.

 

[WYTZZ95FM]

> I kind of agree. I think to grab some more listeners, B96
> should add some dance to their playlist. Not completly, but
> some dance tracks would really help the station. They have
> to beat Kiss & La kelle some how.
>

Someone signs on a mainstream dance station, in line with Energy, tweaked and evolved for today, the circle will be complete.

And B96 will be squeezed on all sides. There are too many stations niching and superserving what B is trying to be, all-in-one.

But Todd is a good programmer, he is well equiped to respond to any changes in the market and keep B chugging along. <P ID="signature">______________

"Z"
Music Coordinator/Technical Support</P>

 

[eggsdannythomas]

Q 101's SONIC BOOM is awesome! I haven't heard it in a while. Are they still doing it? At one point it was on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

How long has Todd Cavanaugh been at the Killer Bee?

We desperately need a REAL dance station, real club stuff -- not remixes of Hollaback Girl.

 

[Rocketman]

> Q 101's SONIC BOOM is awesome! I haven't heard it in a
> while. Are they still doing it? At one point it was on
> Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

No, the show was canned a week before Christmas 2004.
>
> How long has Todd Cavanaugh been at the Killer Bee?

Todd Cavanah has been at B96 since the late 80s where he started out as a part time air talent.

>
> We desperately need a REAL dance station, real club stuff --
> not remixes of Hollaback Girl.

If you program according to that sentence, you're really not mass appeal enough for your sales team to sell advertising!

<P ID="signature">______________
Rob Austin
Vice President
JamTraxx Media Inc.
http://www.jamtraxxmedia.com
"Major Market Solutions for Your Radio Station's Needs!"</P>

 

[ZelenRecords]

> > Q 101's SONIC BOOM is awesome! I haven't heard it in a
> > while. Are they still doing it? At one point it was on
> > Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
>
> No, the show was canned a week before Christmas 2004.
> >
> > How long has Todd Cavanaugh been at the Killer Bee?
>
> Todd Cavanah has been at B96 since the late 80s where he
> started out as a part time air talent.
>
> >
> > We desperately need a REAL dance station, real club stuff
> --
> > not remixes of Hollaback Girl.
>
> If you program according to that sentence, you're really not
> mass appeal enough for your sales team to sell advertising!
>
There is a reason Todd has been @ b96 since the late 80's. How often do you see that now a days in radio. Usualy never. Its is very rare to stay with a station for 15+ years, unless you are a jock. So he is obviously doing something right.

 

[Rocketman]

I would agree with Zelen on this in more ways than one for that matter!

<P ID="signature">______________
Rob Austin
Vice President
JamTraxx Media Inc.
http://www.jamtraxxmedia.com
"Major Market Solutions for Your Radio Station's Needs!"</P>

 

[davideduardo]

> Let's see.. the new Reggeton station is eating at B96.
> Power and B96 are declining and WKSC is almost amazingly
> dead even with B96 in rank, but with still different
> playlists. WGCI is untouchable.
>
> So...it would only make sense for one station to flip or
> lean to Dance. I'd love to see the ratings and billing on a
> city grade signal!

For younger Hispanics, reggaetón IS dance. And without Hispanics, no dance station can make it in the US.

 

[musicloverII]

zzzzz... snooze.... zzzzz

I think dance can't survive without african americans
I think dance can't survive without ____________

Place your group in the underlined and then go back to sleep. Silliness at work again.

> > Let's see.. the new Reggeton station is eating at B96.
> > Power and B96 are declining and WKSC is almost amazingly
> > dead even with B96 in rank, but with still different
> > playlists. WGCI is untouchable.
> >
> > So...it would only make sense for one station to flip or
> > lean to Dance. I'd love to see the ratings and billing on
> a
> > city grade signal!
>
> For younger Hispanics, reggaetón IS dance. And without
> Hispanics, no dance station can make it in the US.
>

 

[musicloverII]

There's no reason to ever change anyone's position until the numbers start falling. They're falling and major changes are needed there now. MAJOR.

B96 appeals to a particular "mass" of people, not all as so evidenced in their slide. They put their eggs in a basket and now they're paying the price.

Todd's going to have to show he knows what he's doing now, in the past, he's really never had anyone eat away at a big chunk of their audience, now he does. We'll see how good he really is. I think he's very good at his job but he'll need some clearances from above to do what's needed to stop the bleeding or else he'll take a nice cushy job at some consulting firm and never look back.

Good luck.

> > > Q 101's SONIC BOOM is awesome! I haven't heard it in a
> > > while. Are they still doing it? At one point it was on
>
> > > Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
> >
> > No, the show was canned a week before Christmas 2004.
> > >
> > > How long has Todd Cavanaugh been at the Killer Bee?
> >
> > Todd Cavanah has been at B96 since the late 80s where he
> > started out as a part time air talent.
> >
> > >
> > > We desperately need a REAL dance station, real club
> stuff
> > --
> > > not remixes of Hollaback Girl.
> >
> > If you program according to that sentence, you're really
> not
> > mass appeal enough for your sales team to sell
> advertising!
> >
> There is a reason Todd has been @ b96 since the late 80's.
> How often do you see that now a days in radio. Usualy
> never. Its is very rare to stay with a station for 15+
> years, unless you are a jock. So he is obviously doing
> something right.
>

 

[davideduardo]

> zzzzz... snooze.... zzzzz
>
> I think dance can't survive without african americans
> I think dance can't survive without ____________
>
> Place your group in the underlined and then go back to
> sleep. Silliness at work again.

If you look at any place where dance has come close to working, it has been with a significant Hispanic component. Look at WKTU... although mostly a 25-54 play, definitely a dance flavor and would be below aqa 2 share without Hispanics. near-misses like KDL in LA, Energy in Chicago and Party in Miami have hall had similar or higher Hispanic components.

My point is that without Hispanics, there is no cance dance can work. And since reggaetón is the dance music of today-s 18-34 Hispanics, there is not much left over for a "dance" dance station.

 

[Rocketman]

David is exactly right. You have to play the Arbitron game and use it to your advantage. If you don't, the station loses money and the efforts of the employees are at that point worthless. What Fortune 500 company is going to invest money on a station that can't generate any positive revenue without delivering a VERY lucrative return on that investment?

Radio is more than just playing your favorite music over the airwaves. Once you can agree with that statement, it is plausible that you will understand why dance isn't working in the US; although since Don Parker took over in San Francisco, it looks like that station has and is generating the highest ratings in the history of that particular frequency in the San Francisco market. He must be doing something right! Their trend posts later on this afternoon!<P ID="signature">______________
Rob Austin
Vice President
JamTraxx Media Inc.
http://www.jamtraxxmedia.com
"Major Market Solutions for Your Radio Station's Needs!"</P>

 

[Rocketman]

Well, what MLII has said is also true. The dance format cannot survive without the African American component either. Most importantly, you need to identify who you're going to serve in the market in question and go after them. In Chicago, you need to identify with the Hispanic and African American communities, in addition to the Caucasians. Only then, can you have a full service dance station that is mainstream enough to serve the Chicago market without alienating anyone.<P ID="signature">______________
Rob Austin
Vice President
JamTraxx Media Inc.
http://www.jamtraxxmedia.com
"Major Market Solutions for Your Radio Station's Needs!"</P>

 

[Jammerz]

NO!!!!

If you look at any place where dance has come close to working, it has been with a significant CHINESE component! Look at WKTU... although mostly a 25-54 play, definitely a dance flavor and would be below a 2 share without Chinese.

Yeah... KDL in LA, Energy San Francisco, and Energy Chicago have all had higher Chinese components. Maybe that's why dance did somewhat well there. No wait! I meant KOREAN! No GREEK! No POLISH! Oh, heck, why not say all those cities with two airports? Without those multiple airports, dance would not do well.

And HIP-HOP won't do well without a significant African-American population. Yeah, that explains all those rhythmic CHRs and urban stations in white-dominated areas such as Billings, Montana or states like Idaho or North Dakota.

Ridiculous.

 

[musicloverII]

And once again, take your meds!

zzzz... snooze... snore...zzz


> > zzzzz... snooze.... zzzzz
> >
> > I think dance can't survive without african americans
> > I think dance can't survive without ____________
> >
> > Place your group in the underlined and then go back to
> > sleep. Silliness at work again.
>
> If you look at any place where dance has come close to
> working, it has been with a significant Hispanic component.
> Look at WKTU... although mostly a 25-54 play, definitely a
> dance flavor and would be below aqa 2 share without
> Hispanics. near-misses like KDL in LA, Energy in Chicago and
> Party in Miami have hall had similar or higher Hispanic
> components.
>
> My point is that without Hispanics, there is no cance dance
> can work. And since reggaetón is the dance music of today-s
> 18-34 Hispanics, there is not much left over for a "dance"
> dance station.
>

 

[Jammerz]

Of COURSE, I was being silly! I just couldn't help but laugh at the dialogue between David and MusicLoverII.

Although... it's interesting to note that C89.5 (though a non-comm) has been a dance station for decades in Seattle, a city with 5% Hispanic population. Diva 103.3 WCDV, a dance-leaning Hot AC in Baton Rouge, is doing good with a 1.7% Hispanic population. Diva 92.3 WDVW, another dance-leaning Hot AC in New Orleans, is doing okay as well with less than 3% Hispanic population.

 

[eggsdannythomas]

You cannot have a dance station in chicago without.....

> My point is that without Hispanics, there is no cance dance
> can work. And since reggaetón is the dance music of today-s
> 18-34 Hispanics, there is not much left over for a "dance"
> dance station.

30 year old Hispanic here, not a big fan of reggaeton. BIG FAN of House, Trance and chillout. Actually as a Cuban-American, I find reggaeton embarrassing.

You cannot have a dance station in chicago without -- Polish people - FACT.

 

[magicmk]

> Of COURSE, I was being silly! I just couldn't help but laugh
> at the dialogue between David and MusicLoverII.
>
> Although... it's interesting to note that C89.5 (though a
> non-comm) has been a dance station for decades in Seattle, a
> city with 5% Hispanic population. Diva 103.3 WCDV, a
> dance-leaning Hot AC in Baton Rouge, is doing good with a
> 1.7% Hispanic population. Diva 92.3 WDVW, another
> dance-leaning Hot AC in New Orleans, is doing okay as well
> with less than 3% Hispanic population.
>

Well, damn, JD actually had my asian blood pumped up for a moment there. Till I read where KTU would only be a 2 share without the Chinese demographic. Then I heard the background laugh track go off in my head. lol

Personally, I don't see where dance has to depend on ethnicity to be viable in a given market. True, a larger percentage of ethnic demos respond to dance better than the more frequently targeted ones, but can't we just say that dance is viable in Chicago, or somewhere else because there's a lot of DANCE FANS? And dance heritage? Hello? Birthplace of house music, people?

 

[magicmk]

>
> Todd's going to have to show he knows what he's doing now,
> in the past, he's really never had anyone eat away at a big
> chunk of their audience, now he does. We'll see how good he
> really is. I think he's very good at his job but he'll need
> some clearances from above to do what's needed to stop the
> bleeding or else he'll take a nice cushy job at some
> consulting firm and never look back.
>

Todd's been with the station through a lot of changes during his stints as MD and now PD. They were heavy with the dance thing in the early 90's, then flirted with some mainstream CHR stuff in the mid 90's, then pretty much went nearly totally hiphop later on. I know he's no stranger to dance music and the dance format. And he also worked under Dave Shakes, who I thought did a marvelous job of programming B96 while he was there, especially in response to the battle with Z95. I'd be curious to know how much control Cavanah has over what B96 does, versus what Infinity wants to see the station do. Does he still play around the city in a ragtop Vette, or has he managed to settle down some?

 

[regionear]

people people...

there is a better chance of rock 40....on Z95

than ANY station going dance in chicago....

good god...if no one will pick up oldies...a proven top 10 format in the market...why in the world would they do a format that did marginal at best

and before you even start with the energy billed well bs...if they did...it would still be here...different owners or whatever